Tuesday, March 24, 6-7pm, The City for the Trees
More than any other color, green signifies life. Not the red of iron-rich blood. Not the roaring yellow of the sun. Plants provide the structure, the baseline, the foundation for everything that lives, and if you consider trees, perhaps the walls and roof as well. Join Steve Betchkal for a viewing of the Emmy-nominated series that describes the critical importance of Green Space in our functional daily lives. YouTube won’t let us record other video footage so here is the playlist for the documentary.
Steve Betchkal of Eau Claire has hiked/camped/backpacked/traveled all 50 U.S. states plus Puerto Rico, 55 National Forests, 80 National Wildlife Refuges, 96 National Parks, & 4 Canadian provinces in pursuit of wild birds. In 2017 he worked in the Galápagos for Lindblad-National Geographic.
Steve is an ornithologist and ecologist, the Eau Claire liaison for Bird City Eau Claire and Welcome Back Bird Day, the producer of WSO’s Bird TV, and the editor of the WSO’s “Wisconsin’s Favorite Bird Haunts.” In his 38 years as a professional journalist, he produced 11,000 TV stories, and is the only journalist in Chippewa Valley history to win six Emmys and an Edward R. Murrow Award.
He is the author of 10 books, including All of This & Robins Too, Make Birds Not War, Wisconsin Birding Trails, Cat Tales: Life Two, Walk the Walk, Camp the Camp, Bird the Bird, & his latest and best, 101 Apologus Nights.
Thursday, March 26, 6-7pm, Plant Native, Make an Impact
No matter the size of your outdoor space, everyone can add native plants to where they live. Why would you choose native plants and how would you get started on deciding what to plant? Anna DeMers of Tamarack Wetland Services, LLC in Rice Lake will share the benefits of native plantings, as well as some plants that grow best in our area (wetland and upland, full sun to full shade). She’ll share a few methods for getting your future planting in the ground as well as how to keep it looking nice for both pollinators and neighbors. If you want to plant a few native plants, have someone do it for you, or are ready to plant a few acres into a larger habitat, this talk is for you!
In person or via Zoom
